חוק הגנת הסביבה (ייעול הליכי רישוי סביבתי) (תיקוני חקיקה), התשפ"ד-2024Environmental Protection Law (Streamlining Environmental Licensing Procedures) (legislative amendments), 2024 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The purpose of the Law is to bring about a comprehensive reform of the existing licensing regime for plants and businesses that have the potential to cause hazards and risks to public health and the environment, by way of a comprehensive amendment to the Clean Air Law, 2008 and the Hazardous Substances Law, 1993. The Law establishes an arrangement for obtaining a unified permit, under which plants or businesses will be required to hold one of two permits, depending on the type of activity they conduct — a unified emission permit under the Clean Air Law or a unified poisons permit under the Hazardous Substances Law. The unified permit will replace the need to obtain several types of permits as required under the existing situation prior to the enactment of the Law, and it will include conditions regulating all the effects of the activity requiring the permit on public health and the environment, in terms of reducing emissions and pollution of air, land and water, protecting public health, and preventing environmental hazards and nuisances. The conditions in the permits will be set based on an examination of the overall environmental effects of the activity and by balancing between them. Another central principle in the Law establishes that the licensing procedures, including the manner of submitting the permit application and the conditions to be set in it, as well as regulations to be set under the Law, will generally be carried out in accordance with the regulation customary in the European Union and the standards customary therein, in accordance with guidelines to be published on the matter by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Regarding the amendment to the Hazardous Substances Law, the Law also includes significant amendments to provisions of the existing law that needed updating. In addition, as part of this amendment, the types of activities requiring a poisons permit under the law were reclassified, also in accordance with European regulation, such that two types of poisons permits were established (Poisons Permit A and B), and an exemption from a permit was established for some of the activities currently requiring a permit. It was further established that the validity of poisons permits will be significantly extended and will stand at ten years. The Law also establishes transitional provisions, under which the reform will be implemented gradually until it applies to all types of activities regulated under the Law.

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